Binary world
Have you ever wondered what happens in your smartphone, personal computer, or even a kitchen oven? Although all those devices seem to be different on the particular high abstraction level, on the lowest level, they do exactly the same things. They operate on binary code which consists of two symbols “0” and “1”. The most amazing fact is that this system was invented in 1689. It has lasted for years and what is more, it’s empowering all today's devices. Can you imagine the world without this system? That’s why we can say that we live in a binary world.
This system assigns a pattern of binary digits
also known as bits to any character, instruction, etc. Each word in this
article is also a set of binary digits because simply, each character is
represented by a specific number of digits. This number depends on a particular
encoding system like for instance UTF-8 – the most commonly used encoding
scheme in today’s computers and networks. Even each pixel of the display in the
device you use is represented by three binary sequences that correspond to the
primary colors (R – red, G – green, B – blue).
Isn’t it fascinating that such a trivial thing like two digits can be
responsible for everything we can see on our smartphone?
All devices interpret those digits and change
them into words, instructions, etc but an algorithm used in this conversion
isn’t so simple, particularly for the first time when you see this. Although
nowadays computers do all this job in no time, it will take a while for anyone
who will try to do this first time. Let’s now focus on the question: “How does
the computer know what to do?”
All circuits in computers are made up of
billions of transistors. Each transistor can be in two states – (1 and 0)
representing the (on and off) state. All transistors act as a switch or gate
for electronic signals and regulate current or voltage flow. They are all
connected in huge circuits and create the whole net of different possibilities
to interpret input signals and create output.
To sum up, the binary code is a really powerful
technology that helps us in everyday life until we use electronic devices. The
purpose of this article was to make everyone conscious of what’s beneath our
devices displays, etc.
Watch the video below to find out more about
binary code power
Please tell
me in comments what you think of:
- Have you ever heard about binary code?
- Do you think that there will be some technology to replace a binary system in the future?
- Try to convert a number in the decimal system (which we use every day) to a binary system which is computer using inside.
Yes, sure. I’ve heard about binary code. It’s hard not to be aware of binary code studying computer science. Actually, it was one of the first things that were taught in a computer science course. It’s one of these foundations that definitely shouldn’t be skipped. I’ve heard that if the binary system is replaced by any system with a higher base it would mean a huge step forward in computing but I’m not sure how it looks now. I didn’t follow this topic, to be honest. I converted a number from the decimal system to the binary system, and what now? 😉
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting. I hope you’ve enjoyed this article. I’m looking forward to any news about the system that will be able to replace the binary one. The task was simply to entertain the reader or challenge him 😊
DeleteObviously, I've heard about binary code. I've been learning about this and how to convert to other systems and vice versa. I think that everyone who study computer studies should know what binary code is. I think that one day someone will discover technology which will replace binary systems, but for now it's hard for me to imagine something which will use electric power and have more states than 0 - off and 1 - on.
ReplyDeletePS: Challenge accepted :)
Decimal: 24
Binary: (2^4 * 1) (2^3 * 1) (2^2 * 0) (2^1 * 0) (2^0 * 0) = 11000
Thanks for your comment. I agree with you that as for now it's hard to think of any technology that would replace the binary system. Good to know that you've accepted the challenge and solved it properly :)
DeleteOf course as IT student I've heard about binary code and I use it from time to time. I think every programmer should know at least some basics of it.
ReplyDeleteI'm not an expert in that domain but I believe quantum computing is a technology which is using third state besides 0 and 1, so if anything is going to replace binary, it's probably quantum computers.
Ok, I'll try ;)
Decimal 12 -> Binary 1100
Thanks for your opinion. I agree with you that quantum computers have potential. I'm happy that you've tried and congrats! You did it well ;)
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhile studying IT it's hard to not hear about the binary code, but I've never had more to do with it unfortunately. Most of my knowledge about binary is only theoretical.
ReplyDeleteIt's very hard to predict such situation especially when I've no expert knowledge in this topic but as we can observe, currently technology is improving very fast and replacement for binary code is inevitable. Never has been good in this topic and author did not specify if any tool is forbidden, so using our helpful internet I'll convert my birth year
Try to convert a number in the decimal system (which we use every day) to a binary system which is computer using inside. 1995 -> 0000011111001011
Thanks for commenting. I agree with you that every IT student has something to do with binary code. If you've used tool like calculator, try to do all calculation by yourself with this tutorial for example https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/binary/bin_2.html :)
DeleteThe base two system known as the binary is essential to virtually everyone connected to the IT industry; the very first thing that comes to my mind is a simple IP address calculation. Apart from that the whole concept of the base two calculation is absolutely necessary to understand how modern-day computers work. Speaking of the future of the binary system: I've recently read an article on quantum computing that gave a view on how such machines work and the concept of so-called qubits - the quantum bits that can be characterized by more than just two states. That leads to the conclusion that the days of the binary code may not be definitely over, but it may lose its exclusivity in the world of computing. Even in the non-IT world, the binary code is used quite often - I've recently had to set up a new home intercom that uses binary code to represent the flat number in a form of jumper pins whose presence/absence represents ones and zeros.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comprehensive comment. It's great to read that you are keen on this topic and also that you have some knowledge and even practice :)
DeleteHave you ever heard about binary code?
ReplyDeleteAs someone mentioned above - it's basic knowledge to everyone from wide IT industry but it's much more complicated that it seems at the beginning.
Do you think that there will be some technology to replace a binary system in the future?
As it was developed almost 4 hundred years ago it's not the simplest question to answer but when I think about quantum computers - it's might be the break-point also in the coding we know nowadays. But as long as I'm not the expert it's hard to write something more about it.
Try to convert a number in the decimal system (which we use every day) to a binary system which is computer using inside.
0b1000101 :D
Thanks for your comment. I agree with your opinion that it's much more complicated than it seems to be because I've had to learn it in high school.
DeleteYes, I did once or twice :)
ReplyDeleteQuantum computers can be a revolution after which the whole binary world will change. This is a great opportunity but also a big threat, because modern cryptographic algorithms will lose their significance. It is certain that the quantum world will be definitely different from the present one and those who will have quantum technology as first, will have all the cards.
I'm afraid I'll have to buy such a machine to do a conversion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0kGZhUE5D0
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteYes, sure. As a person who like technology but not from IT field, I have heard about binary code, but my knowledge about IT isn't so good, so I don't know how everything works inside of the computer.
ReplyDeleteI have tried to surf the net and find out what the binary code really is and get answer for yours second question. Many people believe that qubits and quantum computing systems can be complements of bits and logic gates, but I'm not sure :)
I'm also want to try! :)
2019 -> 11111100011
It was fun! Thank you for make me learning something new! :)
1. Personally I'm studying graphic design, becouse of that I was able to find binary code examples in one of articles I read about RGB color scheme.
ReplyDelete2. I have a feeling that this is similar retantion that we can find in film technology. Behind the first movie was exactly the same principle that we have now, which is playing still images. This technology just do the job. Revolution might bring quantom computers but I don't think that we will find them in every day life very soon.
3. 15=1111
Obviously I knew this concept since I only started to show any interest in computer science.However the idea is still pretty abstract to me, realizing that all this complexity of modern devices has such a simple notion underlying it.
ReplyDeleteHonestly I am surprised to heard, that it was invented over 400 years ago. It is staggering to realize that people in the ages with their primitive technology already had a brief concept of computers. It seems we were destined to create them.
These people did not even have electricity and still they devised a concept of energy flowing or not.
It is hard for me to imagine replacing the binary system with different one, as we have replace all the hardware around.